Top Secret: Clandestine Operations, Book 1

In the first weeks after World War II, a squeaky-clean new second lieutenant named James D. Cronley Jr. is spotted and recruited for a new enterprise that will eventually be transformed into something called the CIA. One war may have ended, but another one has already begun, against an enemy that is bigger, smarter, and more vicious: The Soviet Union. The Soviets have hit the ground running, and Cronley's job is to help frustrate them, harass them, and spy on them any way he can.

Honor Bound

It's 1942. A Marine aviator, an Army paratrooper and demolitions expert, and a non-com radio man are on an impossible mission for the OSS - sabotaging the resupply of German ships and submarines - by any means necessary!

Broken Trust: Badge of Honor Series, Book 13

Having investigated his share of gruesome murders, Philadelphia Homicide Sergeant Matt Payne is beginning to think nothing can shock him - until the case of a young socialite's death lands on his desk. The Camilla Rose Morgan he'd known as a teenager was beautiful and brilliant - how was it possible she'd jumped to her death from her own balcony? Her brother tells Payne she'd tragically been battling a lifetime of mental demons, and there is plenty of evidence of it, but still...something just doesn't sit right.

The Last Heroes: A Men at War Novel, Book 1

June, 1941. Determined that the United States will be prepared for war, Franklin D. Roosevelt and "Wild Bill" Donovan orchestrate the most complex espionage organization in history, the Office of Strategic Services. Young and daring, the OSS assemble under a thin camouflage of diplomacy and then disperse throughout the world to conduct their operations. And no operation is more critical than the one being conducted by hotshot pilot Richard Canidy and his half-German friend Eric Fulmar: to secure the rare ore that will power a top-secret weapon....

By Order of the President: A Presidential Agent Novel

Two armed men board a 727 that has been all but forgotten at an airfield in Angola. Hijacking the jet, they then slit the throat of the lone crew and fly to parts unknown. The consternation is immediate, as the CIA, FBI, and other agencies race to find out what happened, in the process elbowing one another in the sides a little too vigorously. Fed up, the president of the United States turns to an outside investigator to determine the truth.

The Hunting Trip: A Novel of Love and War

At the tender age of 16, Philip W. Williams III is expelled from boarding school for committing a prank, and on the train home naturally wonders where his life will take him now. It never enters his mind that he will become a world-class marksman and a special agent of the US Army Counterintelligence Corps in postwar Germany, play a key role in the defection of a Soviet officer and then court danger as a courier for the CIA, marry an Austrian ballet dancer of ferocious mien, and become a best-selling novelist.

vtray says:"Horrible (Expletive Deleted) Book"

Publisher's Summary

From the #1 New York Times - and Wall Street Journal - best-selling author comes the dramatic second adventure in the brand-new Clandestine Operations series about the Cold War, the fledgling Central Intelligence Agency - and a new breed of warrior.

In Top Secret, W.E.B. Griffin introduced a remarkable new cast of heroes as they found themselves on the front lines of an entirely different kind of war. Now, these men and women are going to find out what they’ve really gotten themselves into.

James Cronley thought he had done well - he didn't know he’d done this well.

His first successful mission for the about-to-be-official new Central Intelligence Directorate has drawn all kinds of attention, some welcome, some not. On the plus side, he's now a captain; promoted to Chief, DCI, Europe; and in charge of a top secret spy operation. On the minus side, a lot of people would like to know about that operation, including not only the Soviets, but his own Pentagon, as well as a seething J. Edgar Hoover.

Cronley knows that if just one thing goes wrong, he's likely to get thrown to the wolves. As if that weren't enough pressure, complications are springing up on all sides. He's discovered a surprising alliance between the former German intelligence chief and, of all things, the Mossad. A German family that Cronley never knew he had has suddenly, and suspiciously, emerged. And he's due for a rendezvous with an undercover agent against the Soviets known only as Seven K.

This is book two in the new series entitled Clandestine Operation Series. Captain James Cronley is back with the same characters we met in book one.

Cronley is now in charge of running the European division of the Directorate of Central intelligence, know known as the CIA. We are introduced to some new characters such as Maksymilian Ostrowski, a free Polish Air Force veteran now a displaced person. Russian triple-agent Seven-K who spied for the Abwehr Ost is also revealed in this story.

One of the things I like about Griffins’ books is that Griffin slips historical facts into the story such as the Katyn Forest massacre, Hoover’s botched attempt at Manhattan Project secrecy. I did note an error in the historical fact in that Griffin had created the USAF one year prior to its actual date of 14 September 1947.

Lots of suspense is provided with a top secret Russian agent Colonel Sergei Likbanev of the NKGB who is turned and taken to Argentina. Now the excitement builds trying to sneak his family out of Russia.

What I like about Griffin books are the mixture of fact and fiction along with mixing real people with fictional characters. Griffin also tends to insert one or more characters from prior books into the story. I wonder is the character Freddy Hessinger is a fictional portrayal of Henry Kissinger; there is a lots of similarities between the two in the story. In this series Griffin is giving us a historical look at post war Germany.

I noted this series which shadows cold war history, is revealing how history repeats itself in the headlines of today’s news. Anyone interested in historical fiction of the cold war will enjoy this book. Alexander Cendese narrated this book.

Just finished the latest installment in the new Griffin series. Really like how he has chosen to portray the young hero. While I was not alive during WW2, I would imagine that many of the newly-made, very young officers second guessed their every move. Makes for a realistic feel.

as the second of the clandestine series it's ever better than the first with excellent narration by Alexander Cendese. Stories about the early days of the CIA make for a great background to the history of what it took to get the CIA off the ground after the OSS was disbanded and the conflict with the DOD and the FBI over who should be responsible for foreign intelligence. With this as a background the story is fast paced and picks up where the first book ended. I highly recommend it.

It seems that these books have an all too predictable formula - get a promotion, run around flashing secret credentials, taste a forbidden fruit, resolve the drama in the last 30 seconds of the book with no casualties.

After a while you will get sick of Captain Cronley over use of official jargon and they need to drop they way he talks inside his head. The spend the whole book prepping for a mission that is covered in last ten minutes. Maybe I just listened to much of griffin in a row.